


but now, I know, how absence can be present

by InkBlotAngel



Series: time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel
Genre: Chastity McBryde, F/M, Melinda May Feels, Pining, Rare Pairings, Season/Series 07, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkBlotAngel/pseuds/InkBlotAngel
Summary: When General Rick Stoner first met Agent Chastity McBryde at the speakeasy in 1973, he didn’t quite know what hit him.After three years, he still hasn’t figured it out.(a.k.a. The Rick Stoner/Melinda May fic no one asked for post 7x05… I think. Because you can't expect me to believe he hasn't thought about her at all since their encounter at the bar. ALSO, a Melinda May lovefest basically)
Relationships: Melinda May/Rick Stoner
Series: time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790437
Comments: 19
Kudos: 28





	but now, I know, how absence can be present

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TabiCatt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabiCatt/gifts), [Highclasstrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highclasstrash/gifts).



> Would anyone believe me if I said this was supposed to be crack? But it's rainy and cold out and it put me in a _mood_.
> 
> Inspired by a comment made by [Highclasstrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highclasstrash): "Shout out to Rick stoner for falling in love with a chick after one conversation that he remembers her 3 years later."
> 
> Also, very important news: Both Ming-Na Wen and the episode director Stan Brooks have confirmed that the Stoner/May scene had takes that were more laden with innuendos but that they were cut. I have since made it my life's mission to join Ming in asking the universe for the director's cut over at Twitter. This is me calling in The Cavalry, come on guys! 
> 
> Title and passages from _The Time Traveler’s Wife_ by Audrey Niffenegger. Spot a reference to something else if you can.
> 
> EDIT post 7x06: OMG LOL I CAN'T *cackles*

_“Every minute of his life since then has been marked by her absence,_  
_every action has lacked dimension because she is not there to measure against.”_

* * *

The memory of the woman—Chastity—makes itself known, as vivid as the day he first met her at the bar.

It’s been three years and he could still picture her, midnight-black hair a stunning contrast from porcelain skin, the vibrant red on the pattern of her dress, the playful look in her dark eyes as she completely, utterly wrapped him around her finger in a matter of minutes.

He thinks back to that encounter more than he should, so he wasn’t really surprised she came into his thoughts once more, especially on this day: Agent McBryde seemed rather intrigued with Project Insight, he remembers, and not for the first time he wonders if he’ll see her again today.

Over the past three years, when he’s at the speakeasy he has made a habit out of making sure there was an empty stool next to him at the bar, saving it for a woman he knows will never come. He’s searched for her in dull-gray rooms, listened for her voice echoing in the metal hallways, anticipated seeing her as he rounds every turn, hoped to see her in his office as she’d once expressed interest in.

_Professional, of course._

He can still hear the distinct suggestion in her voice and remember how flustered he was at the thought that this beautiful woman thought he was worthy of her attention, how she was radiant with self-confidence he has never found in any other woman.

You don’t meet a girl like that every dynasty, he muses, chuckling to himself.

So far, he has managed to restrain himself from looking her up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. files, with Project Insight occupying most of his time, and also feeling it was a bit intrusive and wanting to get to know her better by courting her properly one of these days.

General Stoner has long since given up trying to justify his fascination with Agent Chastity McBryde, so he indulges himself in the rare memory a little bit longer, playing over the details with the all-too-familiar ache of missing someone he doesn’t even know he’s supposed to miss.

* * *

_“Each moment that I wait feels like a year, an eternity._  
_Each moment is as slow and transparent as glass._  
_Through each moment I can see infinite moments lined up, waiting.”_

* * *

The launch takes precedence for the rest of the day, and Agent McBryde escapes from his mind in a flutter of red and white, an unspoken promise to come back once he allows her to.

He’s making his way to the heart of the base where the satellite is to take off in an hour’s time, running a mental checklist of things he needs updates on when the voice he’s been waiting three years to hear echoes through the hallway.

“General Stoner— _wait_!”

He’s quick to turn around, hoping against hope it was her, and it _is_ —and for the second time in his lifetime, she takes his breath away.

Agent McBryde is more beautiful than he remembers, a vision in the standard blue S.H.I.E.L.D. suit that he doesn’t believe he’s considered elegant on anyone else. The color suits her as much as that floral dress did, and for a second he relishes in the thought he didn’t make her up, that she’s _real_ , and she’s standing right in front of him right now as if the past three years just flew by.

Heart hammering in his chest, trying to keep his face impassive, he moves to her, “Agent McBryde… I never thought I’d see you again.”

Not that he hasn’t imagined seeing her again several times in the past three years, making up all the ideal scenarios in his head how their reunion was going to unfold. In them, he was always calm and cool and collected, perfectly blurring the line between her impression of him as a decent gentleman while also being able to express his admiration to her in a manner that was definitely beyond professional.

Somehow, in all his fantasies, he never expected to end up on the receiving end of her punch—a rather powerful one from such a petite woman, enough to knock the wind out his lungs, making it a third time she took his breath away in this lifetime.

As he falls to the ground, vision blackening at the sides, the physical pain fades away, only to be swiftly replaced by the sensation of his heart breaking.

* * *

_"Maybe I'm dreaming you. Maybe you're dreaming me;_ _maybe we only exist in each other's dreams_  
_and every morning when we wake up,_ _we forget all about each other.”_

* * *

When General Rick Stoner first met Agent Chastity McBryde at the speakeasy in 1973, he didn’t quite know what hit him.

After three years, he still hasn’t figured it out, although that punch finally wakes him up to the reality that they never actually knew each other all along.

The thought that he spent this time pining for a woman he met for a grand total of once should have made him feel a little pathetic, but he’s not even angry—just a little sad, maybe, to come to the conclusion that he’s never really had a chance with her; and also a little relieved to come out of what feels like a years-long stupor.

He was so used to having her in his periphery, gotten used to her absence so much that it nearly felt like a presence, as if she’s kept him company this whole time she wasn’t actually there.

Years later in the future, Agent Melinda May steps into the Lighthouse and meets General Rick Stoner in what would actually be their first time. She has no memories of him yet, while he is but a mere hologram, once in love with the woman standing in front of him.

* * *

_“Why has she gone where I cannot follow?”_

**END.**


End file.
